Canadian-born pitcher Cal Quantrill made his first appearance in Toronto as a big-league baseball player on Saturday afternoon and the San Diego Padres rookie was impressive.

Blue Jays starter Edwin Jackson, showing off the 14th uniform of his well-travelled and the possibility past due big-league career, was not.

Neither were the rest of the Jays pitchers manager Charlie Montoyo trotted out to the mound – six more in total including catcher Luke Maile to pitch the ninth. It all added up to an ugly performance by the home side, a frightfully embarrassing 19-4 loss.

A season of low points likely hit rock bottom here with the 24,212 in attendance at a Rogers Communications Cashbox reduced to mock cheering routine outs late in the game and lustily chanting “Let’s Go Raptors.”

Many of those, we suspect, won’t waste much more time or money here until president Mark Shapiro and general manager Ross Atkins show signs of fielding a team capable of being competitive.

Baseball being baseball, however, it was one of 162. And ugly as it was, the Jays were ready to hit the flush button of a game, likely long before it ended.

“Days like that happen in this game from time to time,” said Jays first baseman/designated hitter Justin Smoak, who belted out his ninth homer of the season, one of just four Toronto hits. “It’s one of those where you’ve just got to laugh it off, wash it away and get ready for the next one. Literally.”

In the bigger picture, however, there has to be a demoralizing element as the losses pile up on a group heavy on young players getting their feet wet at the major league level.

The Jays have now dropped 10 of their past 12 games at home and are 1-7-1 in series played at the Rogers Centre, a building where the roof was leaking pre-game and has yet to be opened this season due to ongoing repairs.

As a veteran and quiet but respected leader in the clubhouse, Smoak is mindful of how the freshman types are handling the slide. So far the big switch hitter believes morale hasn’t been an issue.

“More than anything it’s just the grind of a big league season,” Smoak said. “That’s what’s new to them. It’s definitely a learning curve. We just try to help out as much as we can. You’ve got to keep your head down and keep going. Don’t think about a game a week from now, but think about the next day. I feel that’s all you can do in this game.”

It may be a little more difficult after the stench of this one, the 19 runs allowed being tied for the fourth most in club team history. It doesn’t help that the Jays are in the midst of a 16-games-in-16-days stretch that extends through Wednesday in St. Pete.

“It beat you up,” Smoak said of the grind coupled with losses. “It can put a hurting on you real quick. But there’s nothing we can really do about it. It’s something you just have to tough it out.”

San Diego Padres’ Greg Garcia slides safely in for a double under the tag attempt by Toronto Blue Jays second baseman Cavan Biggio in the first inning of their interleague MLB baseball game in Toronto on Saturday May 25, 2019.Fred Thornhill /
THE CANADIAN PRESS

UGLY DETAILS

It was certainly a rough week for the Jays brass which cheated a Monday crowd out of seeing Vlad Guerrero Jr. because it was deemed more important to rest him on a national holiday than say a Sunday afternoon in Chicago or quiet Tuesday in Toronto.

The Padres hit a club record seven home runs and had runners cross the plate in every inning but the third and ninth.

– It was certainly a rough outing for Jackson, who was making his third start for the Jays after being signed by the team in desperation when Clay Buchholz was injured.

By the time he was chased after four innings, Jackson had allowed five extra-base hits – three of them home runs and one a grand slam. In the process, his ERA ballooned from 6.30 to 9.00 and the Jays easily went down to their fourth consecutive loss.

– The bullpen was rocked hard as well and with the game out of reach, Montoyo went to Maile to pitch the ninth for the second time this season. The catcher/knuckleballer struck out a pair in his scoreless inning of work, becoming the first position player in team history to record multiple Ks.

– According to the Padres, the seven homers added up to a total of 2,715 of combined long ball or more than half a mile. The seven homers included Austin Hedges’ first career grand slam in the fourth inning.

OH CANADA

It was certainly a better than solid outing for Quantrill, the Port Hope, Ont. native and son of former Jay and Padres pitcher Paul.

After striking out the side in the sixth, Quantrill let out a loud roar and fist pump as he was congratulated in the Padres dugout. It was the rookie’s first win in just his fourth career start, an effort punctuated with nine strikeouts.

“It was awesome,” Quantrill told reporters after. “I know it’s a little easier when the team puts up 19 runs, but it was fantastic. It was just everything I could have hoped for, minus a couple of pitches (home runs allowed to Smoak and Lourdes Gurriel Jr.”)

“It was definitely his best day in the big leagues so far,” added Padres manager Andy Green said of Quantrill. “His stuff’s good enough to pitch here. We have confidence that as time moves on he’s going to be a big part of what we do.”

n It was also a memorable afternoon for Mississauga native Josh Naylor who got his first big-league hit and RBI with a double in the second inning to get the Padres rout started.

In six at bats, Naylor had three hits after he was credited with an infield hit and RBI in the seventh after a ball he struck was bobbled by Jays rookie third baseman Vlad Guerrero Jr. The 21-year-old Naylor added another single in the eighth.

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